Kington
Kington is a market town, selecting ward as well as civil parish in Herefordshire, England. According to the Church, the ward had a population of 3,240 while the 2011 census had a population of 2,626. The name 'Kington' is derived from King's-lot, being Anglo-Saxon for "King's Community", similar to other nearby towns such as Presteigne significance "Priest's Town" as well as Knighton being "Knight's Town". Kington is to the west of Offa's Dyke so probably this land was Welsh in the 8th century AD. The land was held by Anglo-Saxons in 1066, however ravaged. After the Norman Conquest Kington after that passed to the Crown on the downfall of Roger de Breteuil, 2nd Earl of Hereford in 1075. Prior To 1121 King Henry I provided Kington to Adam de Port, who started a new Marcher barony in this part of the very early Welsh Marches. Kington appears to have been a quiet barony as well as was associated with the office of constable of Hereford. In 1172, Adam de Port, probably the great-grandson of Henry Port, rebelled and also got away the country. He returned in 1174 with a Scottish army, just to take off from the resulting Battle of Alnwick to the excellent mirth of the Norman court. With this his barony of Kington was taken by the Crown as well as ended up being an appurtenance of the office of Sheriff of Hereford, ultimately being granted to William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber in 1203 for £100. The castle after that saw activity in the Braose Wars versus King John of England as well as was likely to have actually been ruined by royal forces in August 1216. Within a couple of years a brand-new citadel was started and the neighboring Huntington Castle and also Kington Castle were abandoned. All that remains of Kington Castle today is a fantastic outcrop of rock topped by a couple of fragmentary earthworks. The old town clustered around the castle and also Norman church in addition to a protective hill over the River Arrow. St Mary's church, positioned on greater ground over the community centre. 'Chingtune' was recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086, the name meaning Kings Town or Manor, high on the hill over the town where St. Mary's Church now stands. The brand-new Kington, called Kyneton in the Fields, was laid out between 1175 and 1230 on land bordering the River Arrow and also perhaps designated as part of the Saxon open area system. Situated on the direct route the drovers drew from Hergest Ridge and with eight annual fairs, Kington grew in importance as a market community and there is still a prospering livestock market on Thursdays. The community keeps the medieval grid pattern of roads and back lanes. In the chapel of St. Mary's Church, there is the alabaster burial place of Sir Thomas Vaughan of neighboring Hergest Court, slaughtered at the Battle of Banbury 1469, as well as his spouse, Elen Gethin. The ghost of Sir Thomas, as well as additionally that of the Black Dog of Hergest are said to haunt the area around Hergest Ridge. The Black Dog's sighting reputedly presages fatality. It is also rumoured to have been the prototype for The Hound of the Baskervilles as Conan Doyle is understood to have actually stayed at close-by Hergest Hall shortly prior to he created the story.